Politics
Washington pressures Iraq as banker-premier assumes office under tight US conditions
July 15, 2026 at 04:26 PM
Coverage
2 reports · 1 in Arabic, 1 in English · over 9 hours
Iraq’s new prime minister Ali al-Zaidi met President Donald Trump in Washington on Tuesday, taking office after a 25-minute consensus under US financial pressure.
- The US Treasury froze Iraq’s dollar cash shipments and suspended parts of security cooperation, blocking a nearly $500 million cash shipment in April.
- Washington demands Iraq disarm all armed factions by September 30, with Kataib Hezbollah and Harakat al-Nujaba rejecting full disarmament.
- Tom Barrack, US envoy to Turkiye, Syria, and Iraq, has pressed Kurdish Prime Minister Masrour Barzani to reactivate the Kurdistan parliament and form a new cabinet.
- Chevron is negotiating an expanded role in Iraq’s oil sector, and the Iraqi government seeks to increase oil production from 4.5 to 7 million barrels per day.